The Mayor
by volta arovet
Summary: They called him the Mayor on Destiny Island. And this was fortunate, for when he woke on a storm-mussed shore with both his daughter and his heart stolen away, the loss of "Reeve" was no further hardship.
1. Chapter 1

**The Mayor**  
by volta arovet  
a Kingdom Hearts story  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: vague spoilers for Kairi's past, I suppose  
Word count: 900

They called him the Mayor on Destiny Island. They called him this for the good reason that he _was_ the mayor, and he had long come to terms with the strange feeling of being promoted past a name. They called him "Mayor," or "Mr. Mayor," or, by one special little girl, "Daddy."

And this was fortunate, for when he woke on a storm-mussed shore with both his daughter and his heart stolen away, the loss of "Reeve" was no further hardship.

"Mr. Mayor?" a girl asked.

It wasn't his name, but it also wasn't _not_ his name, so something in that quavering voice started to wake him.

"Is he breathing?" someone else asked. Young voice, much deeper than the first. Kairi's friend Wakka?

There was heat near his face, a scent of salt and sweat. "I can't tell." That was definitely Tidus. The boy grabbed his wrist, fingers wrapping around the back of his hand and digging into the soft flesh beneath his watch's band, and the pain was so great his jaw clenched shut and a thin whine caught in his throat. "I can't find a pulse!"

"My. Mayor!" the girl cried again-he placed the voice: Selphie, another of Kairi's friends.

He shoved Tidus' hand away and sat up with a groan; the children all gasped and backed away. "I'm fine," he said with an unusual gruffness. It wasn't true, but it was the most useful thing to say.

"That's not normal, ya?" Wakka whispered, sliding slightly in front of Selphie.

"What happened to you?" Selphie asked.

"Where's Kairi?" Tidus demanded.

"Kairi's...missing?" he asked, and he remembered the night he had pulled her from that raft, had held her close, how her heart beat fast like a bird's but her hands were so cold, and he felt...

"Excuse me," he said, lurching to his feet and stumbling past the children. They let him pass without a word, not even moving to lend a hand when the loose sand stole his feet from beneath him.

Somewhere to the east, Sora's mother was calling for him, her voice growing increasingly desperate as the morning wore on. He walked to his home, right leg dragging a broken trail through the sand. His summer home was little more than a cottage, albeit whimsically designed and fantastically crafted, tucked into a tree grove next to the waterfall. The walls were made of a flexible composite, and as the trees grew, the walls grew too, stretching and reaching their way to the skies.

The mayor opened his front door, and he remembered the too-frequent nights when he would take the midnight ferry back from the mainland, and Kairi would still be awake, greeting him with a sleepy-eyed "Welcome home," and he felt...

She wasn't there, but there was a mirror hanging just beyond the entryway, and he finally understood the children's reactions. His hair, normally a rich, dark mahogany, was shot through with gray. His nose was perhaps a bit more aquiline, his skin a touch more tan, and his eyes...

His eyes were a flat green, and when he turned, they reflected light, like a cat's. He drew back, lips pulling from his teeth in a grimace, and he saw that his straight white teeth had become sharper, meaner. He felt...

He left the empty house, door slamming, echoing through the rooms that had been too big for one, just right for two, and nothing now for no one. He ignored the protests of his right leg as he limped through the backtrails for the island. He ignored Riku's father, who was joining the search, ignored how the shadows swirled and scattered in impossible patterns.

He crossed the platforms perfect for jumping, passed the support beams perfect for climbing, and the houses, the overhangs, the pool, all designed to be a child's perfect play place. He had designed it all, and they had loved him for it, and he had stayed for them, and later, stayed for _her_.

He entered the Secret Place, perfect for any child with an imagination, and there

There, the door was open, and Kairi's purse lay on the floor. And as the shadows flowed through, gaining twisting limbs and copper coin eyes, the mayor reached back through his memory, the years of fatherhood, of tears and scraped knees and sunny smiles, of watching her peaceful sleep and wondering when, not if, she would be called back to where she came from, and he felt...

He felt nothing.

The shadows spilled out onto the beach, passing around him as through he were no more interesting than a log stuck in a stream.

People were screaming somewhere. He couldn't tell who-there were too many of the shadow creatures pouring from the broken heart of the island, covering everything in winding black.

He leaned on the cave's edge, easing the pressure on his aching right leg. The shadows pressed against the ground, questing fingers slipping to the sand, heads bobbing up and down, and he thought for a moment that they might be praying.

A chunk of the beach broke off, drifting away into nothing, and he realized that the shadows were _eating_ the land.

And as the sky darkened and crumbled like ashes from a cold fire, the man who had been Reeve watched the home he had built slip away, and he knew, _knew_ , that even if one day it were saved, he still wouldn't care.


	2. Chapter 2

The Mayor  
part 2  
by volta arovet  
a Kingdom Hearts story  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: vague spoilers for Kairi's past, I suppose. A continuation of The Mayor, although it also somewhat stands by itself.  
Word count: 750

When he woke, the world was clean and new, like a fresh summer rain had cleared the footprints from the sand. All he could smell was the sharp tang of the sea, and all he could hear were the waves and Kairi crying.

She had a hand out, reaching for-he didn't know what, nothing was there but empty sea, but she looked like she'd sell her heart for just another inch of reach, and she was crying.

He turned his back on her, limping his way back to their home. The sun was setting, sky washed with orange and gold, but his eyes were sharp, catching the little bits of light filtering through the trees. His ears were sharp as well; he could still hear the little, choked sobs, even halfway down the path.

He started to pack the instant he got home, quickly but efficiently stacking things in his overnight bag. The most personal things-photographs, journals, letters-would stay behind, remnants of a man who was dead. He had considered taking his signature blue suit, but even touching it gave him the same sort of revulsion as the prospect of using someone else's toothbrush. Staying in this house, wearing these clothes, caring for that girl, the very thought of it made that strange empty ache in his chest stretch to his skin.

Plain slacks and white button-down shirts were fine, simple clothes, so they were all he took. They could belong to anybody, or nobody, and why did that word pull at his ear so curiously?

It was already half-past seven. With any luck, he could catch the 8:00 ferry to the mainland, and from there he had many places he could run to. There were more islands, more cities, and he would go anywhere that would let him lose himself. He felt a strange tugging at his soul that told him he could go even farther if he tried, as far as he needed in order to not be here.

He moved to leave, and Kairi was there, in the doorway.

"Daddy?" she said, and he realized that with the bright light behind him, he was just a shadow. She couldn't tell that he was a different man than the one who had taken her in that stormy night.

"I-" he started.

"Oh, Daddy!" she cried, throwing her arms around him.

It hurt. It hurt worse than his injured leg, worse than when Reeve had touched a faulty wire and couldn't open his hand to let it go-which hadn't been him, but the memory, the ghost of the pain was his-it hurt like when Kairi had stomped her little foot and said she hated him-Reeve, not him, the memory didn't hurt, that wasn't him, it didn't matter, but in the memory it had hurt, hurt like the way she held him now.

Everything in him wanted to pull away, to stop this, but he could do nothing except wrap his arms around her and hold her even tighter.

"What's wrong, little girl?" he asked, and if his voice was gruffer than before, she didn't notice.

"Sora, he's-gone, somewhere far away, and Riku, he's-" she gasped.

He shushed her and stroked her hair, the thin strands feeling like diamond knives against his fingers. "There there," he murmured. "They'll be fine, and so will you."

"Daddy..." She slumped against him, burying her head against his chest. They stayed like that until her breathing slowed, and he realized that she had fallen asleep, right there in his arms.

He hoisted her up and carried her to her room. She was still as light as a bird, all bony elbows and big feet, and his body remembered her weight.

He placed her in her bed and paused before he left. He wasn't her father, not even as much as Reeve had been her father, but he began to suspect that she wasn't the same Kairi as the day before, either. She seemed paler somehow, like she did during the school year when she spent months away from the play island's sun. Her hair was a bit longer and was fraying at the ends, and it might have been a trick of the light, but she was perhaps half an inch taller.

So he wasn't the man he had been, but she was different, too, and maybe that was enough.

He turned the light off, walked away from her room, and slowly, methodically, unpacked his bags.


End file.
